Botswana’s Collen Kebinatshipi says his remarkable run of six sub-44-second 400m performances this season was the product of careful preparation rather than a surprise.
For the Kanye-born athlete, breaking the 44-second barrier six times in one season was never beyond the plan.
The 22-year-old Botswana sprinter believes the consistency that carried him through an unbeaten circuit season was the result of preparing for different race scenarios rather than relying on one formula.
Kebinatshipi capped his season with another statement performance at the World Athletics Ultimate Championships in Budapest, Hungary, where he won the men’s 400m in 43.39 seconds.
The performance established a new Botswana national record and placed him fifth on the all-time world list. Only Wayde van Niekerk, Michael Johnson, Butch Reynolds and Samuel Ogazi have run faster.
But the Budapest performance was not an isolated peak. It was the sixth time this season that Kebinatshipi had dipped below 44 seconds.
“It was not hard,” he told this publication in an interview. “That’s why you saw me using different race plans in different races. Sometimes I would go hard and sometimes I would go easy, so I was well prepared.”
Planned progression
His season had been building steadily. Kebinatshipi closed May with a then-season-best 43.92 seconds on May 23. He lowered that mark to 43.54 seconds on June 28 before producing another national record on July 10, when he clocked 43.44.
On August 23, he ran 43.59 seconds, maintaining the form that had become a feature of his season.
The biggest performances were still to come. On September 4, Kebinatshipi secured his first Diamond Trophy at the Wanda Diamond League Final in Brussels after running 43.40 seconds in the 400m. The performance was also recorded as a Diamond League record, meet record and Botswana national record.
It was his sixth consecutive victory of the Diamond League circuit season and completed an undefeated campaign.
He then produced the 43.39 in Budapest, shaving another 0.01 seconds from his national record and ending the season with a performance that further underlined his emergence on the international stage.
Yet Kebinatshipi said the season was not built around chasing records at every opportunity.
His approach was simpler.
“I just wanted to enjoy the 400m race this season,” he said.
That attitude appears to have allowed him to manage the demands of a long season while experimenting with different approaches depending on the race.
Looking ahead
Despite the success, Kebinatshipi does not expect to compete as frequently next season.
“I am happy with what I achieved,” he said. “Next season I’m not going to be racing that much, maybe four races.”
The decision would represent a significant change from a season in which he competed regularly and maintained a level of consistency that produced six sub-44 performances.
For personal coach Chilume Ntshwarang, however, the achievements of the season were about more than individual times.
“It was a wonderful season,” Ntshwarang said. “We managed to deliver strong times and win the Ultimate Championships as well as the Diamond League Final, so it was wonderful.”
Ntshwarang, who is also a Physical Education teacher at Tlhomo Junior Secondary School in Kanye, said the team entered the season with something to prove after Kebinatshipi’s world championship success in the 400m last season.
“After winning the world championship in 400m last season, we basically introduced ourselves and this year we wanted to showcase that it wasn’t a fluke, so we just had to maintain that performance,” he said.
That objective has been met through a season in which Kebinatshipi combined victories with increasingly fast times.
Ntshwarang attributes the progress to the athlete’s qualities away from the spotlight as much as his natural ability on the track.
He described Kebinatshipi as talented, disciplined and hard-working, qualities he believes have played a significant role in his rise to becoming a world champion.
For Kebinatshipi, the immediate focus is now on enjoying what he has achieved before turning his attention to a shorter racing schedule.
His six sub-44 performances have already established a remarkable benchmark. The next chapter, he suggests, may be less about racing and more about making each appearance count.
